The Premier Masters Team has again been chosen to help market the ARL Masters. The Wombats adorn the front page of the official newsletter. Ando in full flight as the centrepiece. Recruitment has started for next year and any willing or unwilling participants should contact Cyril on jasontownsend @ iinet.net.au

Firstly some bad news. As per previous years we’ve overspent by about $500, due mainly to the airfares averaging $195 instead of the budgeted $150. So to offset this i’m going to have to hit all the “flyers” up for an extra $25. Other than that everything else is on track (I think).

It’s that time of the year again where I’ll start to bombard you with emails that some may find interesting and informative, whilst others may find annoying. If you don’t already know the ARL Masters is on again this year, with the Wombats looking to pick up their 1st prize for 5 years participation. This year’s carnival is on from Wednesday 7th March and concludes on Saturday 10th March. So the first thing that needs to known is who’s going. There should be 3 categories.

You definitely are

You definitely are not

You want to, but need more time to make a decision (we don’t want many of these if any)

Whatever category you fall into you will need to let me know ASAP so we know where we stand personnel wise. This will also help out with the accommodation which will need to be booked in early October to secure the required rooms.

I can’t really put an exact cost on the trip just yet as it will depend on varying factors, but if you allow for around $550 – $600 for person requiring airfares/ accommodation etc it will be no more. There are a couple of rule changes this year for the football which I have attached for your perusal.

The main changes are as follows:

1. The age groups have changed slightly, as follows:

35 to 49 years – white shorts

50 to 59 years – red shorts

60 years & over – gold shorts

2. Players who elect not to wear red or gold must now wear white shorts. Most sports which have Masters have coloured shorts for easy identification, so rugby league is falling into line with this world-wide trend. If teams have already ordered normal club shorts for next year, that will be OK but if not, teams should order white shorts.

3. Kicking is only allowed on the last tackle.

4. There are no kicks at goal.

If you know of anyone else that may be interested in going that I don’t have on the email list, feel free to pass this onto them, but remember to stress that we need an answer sooner rather than later.

If you think that this years Jerseys are the best we have ever worn, and of course are Blue and represent our District bloody well when we play in Queensland next year, put a comment below and I will send to the powers that be. Meself, it was the first time I had played in the blue jumper of NSW in a match in Queensland since the Police cadets of NSW played the Qld Police cadets in the opening game before Queensland V NSW in 1977 at Lang Park.

The home of the Blues, Williams Valley. Yep. And, I use JR as the model for obvious reasons….